Collective Security Treaty Organisation
Encyclopedia
The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO; ) is an intergovernmental military alliance which was signed on 15 May 1992. On 7 October 2002, the Presidents of Armenia
, Belarus
, Kazakhstan
, Kyrgyzstan
, Russia
and Tajikistan
signed a charter in Tashkent
founding the CSTO.
Nikolai Bordyuzha
was appointed secretary general of the new organization. On 23 June 2006, Uzbekistan
became a full participant in the CSTO; and its membership was formally ratified by the Uzbek parliament on 28 March 2008. The CSTO is currently an observer organisation at the United Nations General Assembly
.
The CSTO charter reaffirmed the desire of all participating states to abstain from the use or threat of force. Signatories would not be able to join other military alliances or other groups of states, while aggression against one signatory would be perceived as an aggression against all. To this end, the CSTO holds yearly military command exercises for the CSTO nations to have an opportunity to improve inter-organisation cooperation. The largest-scale CSTO military exercise held to date were the "Rubezh 2008" exercises hosted in Armenia
where a combined total of 4,000 troops from all 7 constituent CSTO member countries conducted operative, strategic, and tactical training with an emphasis towards furthering efficiency of the collective security element of the CSTO partnership. A 2011 series of training exercises has recently been held in central Asia consisting of "more than 10,000 troops and 70 combat aircraft".
The CSTO employs a "rotating presidency" system in which the country leading the CSTO alternates every year. Belarus currently has the CSTO presidency.
} (2002)
} (2002)
} (2002)
} (2002)
} (2002)
} (2002)
} (2006)
} (joined 1994, withdrew 1999)
} (joined 1994, withdrew 1999) - plans to join NATO
could join the CSTO saying, "The CSTO is an open organization. If Iran applies in accordance with our charter, we will consider the application." If Iran joined it would be the first state outside the former Soviet Union to become a member of the organization.
On May 28, 2010 Ukrainian Minister for Foreign Affairs
Kostyantyn Hryshchenko stated that Ukraine
does not plan to become a member of the CSTO. On June 3, 2010 the Ukrainian parliament
excluded, with 226 votes, Ukrainian membership of any military bloc, but allowed for co-operation with military alliances.
, and first began as the CIS Collective Security Treaty (CST) which was signed on May 15, 1992, by Armenia
, Kazakhstan
, Kyrgyzstan
, Russian Federation, Tajikistan
and Uzbekistan
, in the city of Tashkent
. Azerbaijan
signed the treaty on September 24, 1993, Georgia
on December 9, 1993 and Belarus
on December 31, 1993. The treaty came into effect on April 20, 1994.
The CST was set to last for a 5-year period unless extended. On April 2, 1999, only six members of the CST signed a protocol renewing the treaty for another five year period -- Azerbaijan
, Georgia
and Uzbekistan
refused to sign and withdrew from the treaty instead. At the same time Uzbekistan
joined the GUAM group, established in 1997 by Georgia
, Ukraine
, Azerbaijan
, and Moldova
, and largely seen as intending to counter Russian influence in the region. Uzbekistan later withdrew from GUAM.
s. In 2005, Uzbekistan withdrew from GUAM and joined the CSTO in 2006 in order to seek closer ties with Russia.
In June 2007, Kyrgyzstan
assumed the rotating CSTO presidency.
In October 2007, the CSTO signed an agreement with the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), in the Tajik capital Dushanbe, to broaden cooperation on issues such as security, crime, and drug trafficking.
On October 6, 2007, CSTO members agreed to a major expansion of the organization that would create a CSTO peacekeeping force that could deploy under a U.N. mandate or without one in its member states. The expansion would also allow all members to purchase Russian weapons at the same price as Russia.
On August 29, 2008, Russia announced it would seek CSTO recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Three days before, on August 26, Russia recognised the independence of Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
On September 5, 2008, Armenia
assumed the rotating CSTO presidency during a CSTO meeting in Moscow
, Russia
.
On December 10, 2010, the member states approved a declaration on the CSTO peacekeeping force and a declaration of the CSTO member states, and also signed a package of joint documents.
basis.
On August 3, 2009 the foreign ministry of Uzbekistan
criticized plans by Russia
to establish a military base in southern Kyrgyzstan
for the CSTO rapid reaction force, stating, "The implementation of such projects on complex and unpredictable territory, where the borders of three Central Asian republics directly converge, may give impetus to the strengthening of militarization processes and initiate all kinds of nationalistic confrontations. ....Also, it could lead to the appearance of radical extremist forces that could lead to serious destabilization this vast region."
was ousted from office as President of Kyrgyzstan
as a result of riots in Kyrgyzstan
in April, 2010, he was granted asylum in Belarus
. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko
expressed doubt about the future of the CSTO for failing to prevent Bakiyev's overthrow, stating, "What sort of organization is this one, if there is bloodshed in one of our member states and an anticonstitutional coup d'etat takes place, and this body keeps silent?" Lukashenko had previously accused Russia
of punishing Belarus
with economic sanctions after Lukashenko's refusal to recognize the independence of Abkhazia
and South Ossetia
, stating "Economy serves as the basis for our common security. But if Belarus’s closest CSTO ally is trying....to destroy this basis and de facto put the Belarussians on their knees, how can one talk about consolidating collective security in the CSTO space?" After refusing to attend a CSTO summit in 2009, Lukashenko
said, "Why should my men fight in Kazakhstan? Mothers would ask me why I sent their sons to fight so far from Belarus. For what? For a unified energy market? That is not what lives depend on. No!"
During a trip to Ukraine
to extend Russia's lease of the Crimean port Sevastopol
in return for discounted natural gas supplies
, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
was asked about whether Belarus
could expect a similar deal and responded, "Real partnership is one thing and a declaration of intentions is another; reaching agreement on working seriously, meeting each other halfway, helping each other is one thing and making decisions about granting permanent residence to people who have lost their job is another." The Belarusian President defended himself against this criticism by citing former Russian President Vladimir Putin
's invitation of Askar Akayev
to Russia after he was ousted as President of Kyrgyzstan
during the 2005 Tulip Revolution
. The following month, President Medvedev ordered the CEO of Russia's natural gas monopoly Gazprom
to cut gas supplies to Belarus. Subsequently, the Russian television channel NTV, run by Gazprom
aired a documentary film which compared Lukashenko to Bakiyev. Then the Russian President's foreign policy adviser Sergei Prikhodko threatened to publish the transcript of a CSTO meeting where Lukashenko said that his administration would recognize Abkhazian and South Ossetian independence.
In June 2010, ethnic clashes
broke out between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks
in southern Kyrgyzstan, leading interim Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbayeva
to request the assistance of Russian troops to quell the disturbances. Kurmanbek Bakiyev
denied charges that his supporters were behind the ethnic conflict and called on the CSTO to intervene. Askar Akayev
also called for the CSTO to send troops saying, "Our priority task right now should be to extinguish this flame of enmity. It is very likely that we will need CSTO peacekeepers to do that." Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
said that "only in the case of a foreign intrusion and an attempt to externally seize power can we state that there is an attack against the CSTO," and that, "all the problems of Kyrgyzstan have internal roots," while CSTO Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha
called the violence "purely a domestic affair." Later however Bordyuzha admitted that the CSTO response may have been inadequate and claimed that "foreign mercenaries" provoked the Kyrgyz violence against ethnic Uzbek
minorities.
On July 21, 2010, interim Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbayeva
called for the introduction of CSTO police units to southern Kyrgyzstan
saying, “I think it’s important to introduce CSTO police forces there, since we’re unable to guarantee people’s rights on our own," but added "I’m not seeking the CSTO’s embrace and I don’t feel like bringing them here to stay but the bloodletting there will continue otherwise." Only weeks later the deputy chairman of Otubayeva's interim Kyrgyz government complained that their appeals for help from the CSTO had been ignored.
The CSTO was unable to agree on providing military assistance to Kyrgyzstan
at a meeting in Yerevan
, Armenia
, which was attended by Roza Otunbayeva
as well as Alexander Lukashenko
.
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
, Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
, Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and Tajikistan
Tajikistan
Tajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east....
signed a charter in Tashkent
Tashkent
Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was about 2.2 million. Unofficial sources estimate the actual population may be as much as 4.45 million.-Early Islamic History:...
founding the CSTO.
Nikolai Bordyuzha
Nikolai Bordyuzha
Nikolay Nikolayevich Bordyuzha is a Russian general and politician.In 1972, he graduated from Perm Military School of the High command of the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces and later attended KGB intelligence courses in Novosibirsk....
was appointed secretary general of the new organization. On 23 June 2006, Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
became a full participant in the CSTO; and its membership was formally ratified by the Uzbek parliament on 28 March 2008. The CSTO is currently an observer organisation at the United Nations General Assembly
United Nations General Assembly observers
In addition to the current 193 member states, the United Nations welcomes many international organizations, entities, and non-member states as observers. Observer status is granted by a United Nations General Assembly resolution...
.
The CSTO charter reaffirmed the desire of all participating states to abstain from the use or threat of force. Signatories would not be able to join other military alliances or other groups of states, while aggression against one signatory would be perceived as an aggression against all. To this end, the CSTO holds yearly military command exercises for the CSTO nations to have an opportunity to improve inter-organisation cooperation. The largest-scale CSTO military exercise held to date were the "Rubezh 2008" exercises hosted in Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
where a combined total of 4,000 troops from all 7 constituent CSTO member countries conducted operative, strategic, and tactical training with an emphasis towards furthering efficiency of the collective security element of the CSTO partnership. A 2011 series of training exercises has recently been held in central Asia consisting of "more than 10,000 troops and 70 combat aircraft".
The CSTO employs a "rotating presidency" system in which the country leading the CSTO alternates every year. Belarus currently has the CSTO presidency.
Member states
- Current members:
} (2002)
-
-
- Military of Armenia
-
} (2002)
-
-
- Military of Belarus
-
} (2002)
-
-
- Military of KazakhstanMilitary of KazakhstanThe Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan , is the name of the unified armed forces of Kazakhstan...
- Military of Kazakhstan
-
} (2002)
-
-
- Military of KyrgyzstanMilitary of KyrgyzstanThe armed forces of Kyrgyzstan, originally formed from former Soviet forces of the Turkestan Military District stationed in the newly independent state, includes the Army/Land Forces, the Air and Air Defence Forces, the Northern and Southern Groups of Forces, Interior Troops, Agency of National...
- Military of Kyrgyzstan
-
} (2002)
-
-
- Military of Russia
-
} (2002)
-
-
- Military of TajikistanMilitary of TajikistanTajikistan's armed forces consist of Land Forces, Mobile Forces, Air and Air Defense Forces, Presidential National Guard, and Security Forces...
- Military of Tajikistan
-
} (2006)
-
-
- Military of UzbekistanMilitary of UzbekistanUzbekistan's armed forces form the state organisation charged with the defence of Uzbekistan. They are reported to be the largest in Central Asia...
- Military of Uzbekistan
-
- Former members of the Collective Security Treaty of the Commonwealth of Independent StatesCommonwealth of Independent StatesThe Commonwealth of Independent States is a regional organization whose participating countries are former Soviet Republics, formed during the breakup of the Soviet Union....
who are not members of CSTO:
} (joined 1994, withdrew 1999)
} (joined 1994, withdrew 1999) - plans to join NATO
Future membership
In May 2007 the CSTO secretary-general Nikolai Bordyuzha suggested IranIran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
could join the CSTO saying, "The CSTO is an open organization. If Iran applies in accordance with our charter, we will consider the application." If Iran joined it would be the first state outside the former Soviet Union to become a member of the organization.
On May 28, 2010 Ukrainian Minister for Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ukraine)
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine is the Ukrainian government ministry which oversees the foreign relations of Ukraine.-Historical overlook:...
Kostyantyn Hryshchenko stated that Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
does not plan to become a member of the CSTO. On June 3, 2010 the Ukrainian parliament
Verkhovna Rada
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is Ukraine's parliament. The Verkhovna Rada is a unicameral parliament composed of 450 deputies, which is presided over by a chairman...
excluded, with 226 votes, Ukrainian membership of any military bloc, but allowed for co-operation with military alliances.
History
The CSTO grew out of the framework of the Commonwealth of Independent StatesCommonwealth of Independent States
The Commonwealth of Independent States is a regional organization whose participating countries are former Soviet Republics, formed during the breakup of the Soviet Union....
, and first began as the CIS Collective Security Treaty (CST) which was signed on May 15, 1992, by Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
, Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...
, Russian Federation, Tajikistan
Tajikistan
Tajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east....
and Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
, in the city of Tashkent
Tashkent
Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was about 2.2 million. Unofficial sources estimate the actual population may be as much as 4.45 million.-Early Islamic History:...
. Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
signed the treaty on September 24, 1993, Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
on December 9, 1993 and Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
on December 31, 1993. The treaty came into effect on April 20, 1994.
The CST was set to last for a 5-year period unless extended. On April 2, 1999, only six members of the CST signed a protocol renewing the treaty for another five year period -- Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
, Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
and Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
refused to sign and withdrew from the treaty instead. At the same time Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
joined the GUAM group, established in 1997 by Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
, and Moldova
Moldova
Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...
, and largely seen as intending to counter Russian influence in the region. Uzbekistan later withdrew from GUAM.
Recent developments
During 2005, the CSTO partners conducted some common military exerciseMilitary exercise
A military exercise is the employment of military resources in training for military operations, either exploring the effects of warfare or testing strategies without actual combat...
s. In 2005, Uzbekistan withdrew from GUAM and joined the CSTO in 2006 in order to seek closer ties with Russia.
In June 2007, Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...
assumed the rotating CSTO presidency.
In October 2007, the CSTO signed an agreement with the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), in the Tajik capital Dushanbe, to broaden cooperation on issues such as security, crime, and drug trafficking.
On October 6, 2007, CSTO members agreed to a major expansion of the organization that would create a CSTO peacekeeping force that could deploy under a U.N. mandate or without one in its member states. The expansion would also allow all members to purchase Russian weapons at the same price as Russia.
On August 29, 2008, Russia announced it would seek CSTO recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Three days before, on August 26, Russia recognised the independence of Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
On September 5, 2008, Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
assumed the rotating CSTO presidency during a CSTO meeting in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
On December 10, 2010, the member states approved a declaration on the CSTO peacekeeping force and a declaration of the CSTO member states, and also signed a package of joint documents.
Collective Rapid Reaction Force
On February 4, 2009, an agreement to create the Collective Rapid Reaction Force (KSOR) (Russian: Коллекти́вные си́лы операти́вного реаги́рования (КСОР)) was reached by five of the seven members, with plans finalized on June 14. The force is intended to be used to repulse military aggression, conduct anti-terrorist operations, fight transnational crime and drug trafficking, and neutralize the effects of natural disasters. Belarus and Uzbekistan initially refrained from signing on to the agreement; Belarus because of a trade dispute with Russia, and Uzbekistan due to general concerns. Belarus signed the agreement the following October while Uzbekistan has yet to sign it. However a source in the Russian delegation said Uzbekistan would not participate in the collective force on a permanent basis but would "delegate" its detachments to take part in operations on an ad hocAd hoc
Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning "for this". It generally signifies a solution designed for a specific problem or task, non-generalizable, and not intended to be able to be adapted to other purposes. Compare A priori....
basis.
On August 3, 2009 the foreign ministry of Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
criticized plans by Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
to establish a military base in southern Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...
for the CSTO rapid reaction force, stating, "The implementation of such projects on complex and unpredictable territory, where the borders of three Central Asian republics directly converge, may give impetus to the strengthening of militarization processes and initiate all kinds of nationalistic confrontations. ....Also, it could lead to the appearance of radical extremist forces that could lead to serious destabilization this vast region."
Kyrgyz Conflict
After Kurmanbek BakiyevKurmanbek Bakiyev
Kurmanbek Saliyevich Bakiyev is a politician who served as the second President of Kyrgyzstan, from 2005 to 2010...
was ousted from office as President of Kyrgyzstan
President of Kyrgyzstan
The President of Kyrgyzstan is the head of state and the highest official of Kyrgyzstan. The President, according to the constitution, "is the symbol of the unity of people and state power, and is the guarantor of the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic, and of an individual and citizen." The...
as a result of riots in Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...
in April, 2010, he was granted asylum in Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko
Alexander Lukashenko
Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko has been serving as the President of Belarus since 20 July 1994. Before his career as a politician, Lukashenko worked as director of a state-owned agricultural farm. Under Lukashenko's rule, Belarus has come to be viewed as a state whose conduct is out of line...
expressed doubt about the future of the CSTO for failing to prevent Bakiyev's overthrow, stating, "What sort of organization is this one, if there is bloodshed in one of our member states and an anticonstitutional coup d'etat takes place, and this body keeps silent?" Lukashenko had previously accused Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
of punishing Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
with economic sanctions after Lukashenko's refusal to recognize the independence of Abkhazia
Abkhazia
Abkhazia is a disputed political entity on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the south-western flank of the Caucasus.Abkhazia considers itself an independent state, called the Republic of Abkhazia or Apsny...
and South Ossetia
South Ossetia
South Ossetia or Tskhinvali Region is a disputed region and partly recognized state in the South Caucasus, located in the territory of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the former Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic....
, stating "Economy serves as the basis for our common security. But if Belarus’s closest CSTO ally is trying....to destroy this basis and de facto put the Belarussians on their knees, how can one talk about consolidating collective security in the CSTO space?" After refusing to attend a CSTO summit in 2009, Lukashenko
Alexander Lukashenko
Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko has been serving as the President of Belarus since 20 July 1994. Before his career as a politician, Lukashenko worked as director of a state-owned agricultural farm. Under Lukashenko's rule, Belarus has come to be viewed as a state whose conduct is out of line...
said, "Why should my men fight in Kazakhstan? Mothers would ask me why I sent their sons to fight so far from Belarus. For what? For a unified energy market? That is not what lives depend on. No!"
During a trip to Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
to extend Russia's lease of the Crimean port Sevastopol
Sevastopol
Sevastopol is a city on rights of administrative division of Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea peninsula. It has a population of 342,451 . Sevastopol is the second largest port in Ukraine, after the Port of Odessa....
in return for discounted natural gas supplies
2010 Ukrainian–Russian Naval Base for Natural Gas treaty
The Russian Ukrainian Naval Base for Gas treaty, widely referred to as the Kharkiv Accords or the Kharkiv Pact in the Russian and Ukrainian media, is a treaty between Ukraine and Russia whereby the Russian lease on naval facilities in Crimea would be extended beyond 2017 by 25 years with an...
, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev is the third President of the Russian Federation.Born to a family of academics, Medvedev graduated from the Law Department of Leningrad State University in 1987. He defended his dissertation in 1990 and worked as a docent at his alma mater, now renamed to Saint...
was asked about whether Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
could expect a similar deal and responded, "Real partnership is one thing and a declaration of intentions is another; reaching agreement on working seriously, meeting each other halfway, helping each other is one thing and making decisions about granting permanent residence to people who have lost their job is another." The Belarusian President defended himself against this criticism by citing former Russian President Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
's invitation of Askar Akayev
Askar Akayev
Askar Akayevich Akayev served as the President of Kyrgyzstan from 1990 until his overthrow in the March 2005 Tulip Revolution....
to Russia after he was ousted as President of Kyrgyzstan
President of Kyrgyzstan
The President of Kyrgyzstan is the head of state and the highest official of Kyrgyzstan. The President, according to the constitution, "is the symbol of the unity of people and state power, and is the guarantor of the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic, and of an individual and citizen." The...
during the 2005 Tulip Revolution
Tulip Revolution
The Tulip Revolution or First Kyrgyz Revolution refers to the overthrow of President Askar Akayev and his government in the Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan after the parliamentary elections of February 27 and of March 13, 2005...
. The following month, President Medvedev ordered the CEO of Russia's natural gas monopoly Gazprom
Gazprom
Open Joint Stock Company Gazprom is the largest extractor of natural gas in the world and the largest Russian company. Its headquarters are in Cheryomushki District, South-Western Administrative Okrug, Moscow...
to cut gas supplies to Belarus. Subsequently, the Russian television channel NTV, run by Gazprom
Gazprom
Open Joint Stock Company Gazprom is the largest extractor of natural gas in the world and the largest Russian company. Its headquarters are in Cheryomushki District, South-Western Administrative Okrug, Moscow...
aired a documentary film which compared Lukashenko to Bakiyev. Then the Russian President's foreign policy adviser Sergei Prikhodko threatened to publish the transcript of a CSTO meeting where Lukashenko said that his administration would recognize Abkhazian and South Ossetian independence.
In June 2010, ethnic clashes
2010 South Kyrgyzstan riots
The 2010 South Kyrgyzstan riots were clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in southern Kyrgyzstan, primarily in the cities of Osh and Jalal-Abad, in the aftermath of the ouster of former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev on April 7. It is part of the larger 2010 Kyrgyzstan crisis. Violence that...
broke out between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks
Uzbeks
The Uzbeks are a Turkic ethnic group in Central Asia. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, and large populations can also be found in Afghanistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Pakistan, Mongolia and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China...
in southern Kyrgyzstan, leading interim Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbayeva
Roza Otunbayeva
Roza Isakovna Otunbayeva is a Kyrgyz diplomat and politican who served as the President of Kyrgyzstan from 7 April 2010 until 1 December 2011. She was sworn in on July 3, 2010, after acting as interim leader following the 2010 April revolution which led to the ousting of then President Kurmanbek...
to request the assistance of Russian troops to quell the disturbances. Kurmanbek Bakiyev
Kurmanbek Bakiyev
Kurmanbek Saliyevich Bakiyev is a politician who served as the second President of Kyrgyzstan, from 2005 to 2010...
denied charges that his supporters were behind the ethnic conflict and called on the CSTO to intervene. Askar Akayev
Askar Akayev
Askar Akayevich Akayev served as the President of Kyrgyzstan from 1990 until his overthrow in the March 2005 Tulip Revolution....
also called for the CSTO to send troops saying, "Our priority task right now should be to extinguish this flame of enmity. It is very likely that we will need CSTO peacekeepers to do that." Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev is the third President of the Russian Federation.Born to a family of academics, Medvedev graduated from the Law Department of Leningrad State University in 1987. He defended his dissertation in 1990 and worked as a docent at his alma mater, now renamed to Saint...
said that "only in the case of a foreign intrusion and an attempt to externally seize power can we state that there is an attack against the CSTO," and that, "all the problems of Kyrgyzstan have internal roots," while CSTO Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha
Nikolai Bordyuzha
Nikolay Nikolayevich Bordyuzha is a Russian general and politician.In 1972, he graduated from Perm Military School of the High command of the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces and later attended KGB intelligence courses in Novosibirsk....
called the violence "purely a domestic affair." Later however Bordyuzha admitted that the CSTO response may have been inadequate and claimed that "foreign mercenaries" provoked the Kyrgyz violence against ethnic Uzbek
Uzbeks
The Uzbeks are a Turkic ethnic group in Central Asia. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, and large populations can also be found in Afghanistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Pakistan, Mongolia and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China...
minorities.
On July 21, 2010, interim Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbayeva
Roza Otunbayeva
Roza Isakovna Otunbayeva is a Kyrgyz diplomat and politican who served as the President of Kyrgyzstan from 7 April 2010 until 1 December 2011. She was sworn in on July 3, 2010, after acting as interim leader following the 2010 April revolution which led to the ousting of then President Kurmanbek...
called for the introduction of CSTO police units to southern Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...
saying, “I think it’s important to introduce CSTO police forces there, since we’re unable to guarantee people’s rights on our own," but added "I’m not seeking the CSTO’s embrace and I don’t feel like bringing them here to stay but the bloodletting there will continue otherwise." Only weeks later the deputy chairman of Otubayeva's interim Kyrgyz government complained that their appeals for help from the CSTO had been ignored.
The CSTO was unable to agree on providing military assistance to Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...
at a meeting in Yerevan
Yerevan
Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country...
, Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, which was attended by Roza Otunbayeva
Roza Otunbayeva
Roza Isakovna Otunbayeva is a Kyrgyz diplomat and politican who served as the President of Kyrgyzstan from 7 April 2010 until 1 December 2011. She was sworn in on July 3, 2010, after acting as interim leader following the 2010 April revolution which led to the ousting of then President Kurmanbek...
as well as Alexander Lukashenko
Alexander Lukashenko
Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko has been serving as the President of Belarus since 20 July 1994. Before his career as a politician, Lukashenko worked as director of a state-owned agricultural farm. Under Lukashenko's rule, Belarus has come to be viewed as a state whose conduct is out of line...
.
See also
- North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
- Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)
- GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic DevelopmentGUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic DevelopmentThe GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development is a regional organization of four post-Soviet states: Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova....
(GUAM) - Military alliance
- Eurasian Economic CommunityEurasian Economic CommunityThe Eurasian Economic Community originated from the Commonwealth of Independent States customs union between Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan on 29 March 1996...
(EURASEC) - Post-Soviet statesPost-Soviet statesThe post-Soviet states, also commonly known as the Former Soviet Union or former Soviet republics, are the 15 independent states that split off from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in its dissolution in December 1991...
- Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation SEATO
- Warsaw PactWarsaw PactThe Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe...
External links
- CSTO Official Site (in Russian)
- CSTO Official Site (in English)
- The Charter of the CSTO